


orpheus, the soldier, and the short-billed dowitchers

by alexsandr



Category: The Mechanisms (Band), Ulysses Dies at Dawn - The Mechanisms (Album)
Genre: Gen, Might add more tags later, death mention, he’s just a bit drunk, i simply think orpheus deserves more content, some introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexsandr/pseuds/alexsandr
Summary: orpheus finds rest with an unexpected friend.
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Ulysses Dies at Dawn), Orpheus & The Toy Soldier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	orpheus, the soldier, and the short-billed dowitchers

He's shambling down a stale damp passageway somewhere far deeper than he should be when he spots it. How long it has been following him he doesn't know; he is only aware of it now, limbs creaking slowly in the most inhuman fashion.

“Oi! What are you doing here?” he calls out to it.

“I'm following you, good sir!” it calls back to him. Orpheus only has the mind to stare back at the figure disorientedly. He knew Narcissus' fear of poor re-bodyings was mere foolishness, but as this thing began to approach him, he felt his apprehensiveness kin to the other lad's.

“Aren't you the nymph from earlier?” he realizes, his view of it now clear in the pale light of a muddy street lamp. This was the same man they had replaced Orpheus with when he was unceremoniously kicked out of Dionysus' place. He doubts the liability that this man truly has in the business, but old Dionysus will show anything in place of a depressed poet such as himself, it seems.

The wooden thing nods vigorously, its painted smile glinting. “You're Orpheus, aren't you? Jolly good. I've been following you for a right two hours: I never could figure out how to approach you, so I waited for you to do the same to me instead.” Its mouth moves less than it should when it talks. Orpheus decides to pay that no mind.

“I'm - I don't mean to be rude,” Orpheus tries his best not to slur, “but however did you get here in the first place? You seem to have taken a mighty rough trip to the Acheron and back, from the looks of you.”

It gives a diffident expression. “I'm not actually from there at all, you see. I'm the Toy Soldier! I’m from space. I'm dreadfully sorry about your displacement from the club - oh, it was so much fun to perform there!”

Orpheus shrugs. “It's really not all that, you'll get used to it eventually. Of course, 'til Dionysus kicks you out. Even if you manage to keep your place in the long run, he has a habit of firing and then reinstating his employees every week. Says it's for tax reasons. No one knows whether to believe him or not.”

The Toy Soldier just stares at him, and he wishes (for the sakes of both parties) that it could blink. He is just beginning to get sleepy enough to lie down right there in the alley when it cracks the silence wide open as if with a knife.

“Doesn't it ever get nice here? It's bloody dreary, and it hasn't changed since I've arrived!”

Orpheus sighs and rubs his eyelids. “Can we move somewhere else to talk? I'm getting tired, and I don't think it proper to lay down in the middle of the street. Might get run over or, worse, woken up in the nigh hours of the morning by some rummaging animals.”

It nods and he begins forward again, less afraid of being attacked by the thing while he's looking away. It actually seems quite friendly, and he's just a bit too drunk to defend himself on the chance that it weren't.

He eventually makes his way down past the shambles of old houses and the Soldier taps him on the elbow. “Look!”

Orpheus looks, and is beholden to the sight of ten or so fat birds plodding around on a log directly adjacent to a metal shack. The birds aren’t all that exciting to him, but the shack is; it’s something only less than perfect to stay the night in. He approaches it slowly, using all of his willpower to avoid scaring the birds away.

Once the two are inside, he begins to close the door, but his new friend stops him. “Don't shut it yet, don't you want to watch them?”

He doesn't protest, only sitting back and letting himself finally relax a bit. He does hate going to bed because he is evaded with the dread of waking up in the morning, but it's all he can do not to pass out right there and then.

“Those are short-billed Dowitchers,” the ever-cheery voice calls from beside him. “You never see them away from the water - I can't imagine what they're doing this far in! Their name is quite misleading, their beaks are indeed longer than the average shorebird.”

Orpheus doesn't know much about birds but he knows even less about natural water stores. “I haven't seen a river in years, I imagine they've learned to live without it. If they haven't then they're out of luck. At least when they die, they get to stay that way.”

“I sure know what you mean,” the Soldier says with a huff. “Being immortal is quite the drag. You'd think it would be more exciting, surely, but you can only get killed by your captain a number of times before it's not fun at all, and you'd rather just stay that way for awhile.”

“I've spent my entire life trying to avoid death and here I am wishing it upon myself nearly every day. The Acheron is a monstrosity, the only thing I want more than to die peacefully is to stay alive so long they can't use me when I'm gone.”

“That does sound dreadful. Isn't life here so dull? Maybe you'd want to live more if you weren't surrounded by this muck. I say, don't you ever see the sun?”

“I only saw it once. It stunned me deeply, I've never seen something so beautiful. I only wish I could have seen it with the one I love.”

“Why don't you see it more often? Suns are quite the lovely thing so long as you're not too close to them. Your lad is ever so charming, I'm sure it'd be great fun!”

Orpheus cringes. “Oh, Narcissus and I aren't - he's so dour, I could never. The one I speak of is Eurydice. She's the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I miss her so dearly. I'm planning to get her back from the Acheron, I just have to win over the right people. Don't you see the product of the Acheron? It tears lives apart. This city is doomed, and it's all because of the damned Olympians. Maybe I could see the sun if not for them. I wouldn't know, I can't seem to escape this life.”

The Toy Soldier gently rests its arm on his shoulder. “Cheer up, mate. You're still a lad, you have time yet to get out of here. You've so much potential. Your city does too! I've seen the rebellion - it's not the best rebellion I've ever come across, but certainly not the worst. I know that someone here, even if it's not you, even if it's not for a million years, will get out. They'll fix it. They always do, don’t they?”

“If you're telling me I'm talented and beautiful and that's how I'm going to save myself, you're right. I don't need to hear the rest.”

The Soldier shrugs. “Do you play the lyre? Your hands are so calloused.”

Orpheus starts. He hadn't realized that the Soldier had been running its fingers over his hand like a palm reader. Had he really been that invested in what it was saying? He desperately needs to sleep.

“Yeah, didn't you see me play? It's all I'm good for, really.”

“Blimey, that's splendid! I play too. It's a bit easier when you've got all this wood, eh? It makes for great friction.”

“I suppose so, yes.”

“I do hope we meet again. I'd love to hear you play.”

“It'd be my pleasure.”  
  


When Orpheus awakes he is by his lonesome and dreadfully cold. He should think he had dreamt the entirety of the last night if not for the smooth lyre plectrum that had been placed in his pocket and the row of short-billed Dowitchers outside that sang to the morning air. Their name really was misleading, he thought to himself, picking his weary body up and heading back home.


End file.
